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trophy hunting or meat hunting

10K views 43 replies 16 participants last post by  redman5850 
#1 ·
Just wondering how many of you guys consider yourselves to be trophy hunters and how many consider yourselves meat hunters and how many are both? Also, how many of you set a minimum standard as to what you are looking for in a buck? (if not a trophy by B.C. standards, at least a certain number of points or size, etc. - or it walks.) My standard for bucks is 8 points or more, but I also do meat hunts for antelope and elk. (Those two taste so good, it would be a real shame not to put one in the freezer because of what might NOT be on its head)!
 
#36 ·
Anymore I'm not sure what works? In PA where they instituted the 3-4 pt restrictions have netted mixed results. First in the immediate short term we started to see more multiple point bucks, then they shot the heck out of the does and every hunter in the woods is shooting the barely legal bucks so how do you get the really big bucks? PA is a state that gets extreemly heavily hunted and now some 7 years later... we are seeing so few deer that some are looking to find new hunting grounds. In the early years 1970's we would see 20-40- deer per day of rifle season but low grade bucks, now 2-3 deer all week and very few bucks are taken/seen. Something has gone haywire and I'm still uncertain of what to do. I think all this deer management stuff better be well thought out or bad things will happen and it takes many years to correct. I'm all for fewer deer but quality racks, but something went to far????
 
#40 ·
What is the season limit on Bucks in PA? In KY we get 1, no matter how ya kill it. In my end of the state we can kill as many does as we want and believe me, they want us to wack em. But our game dept will not budge on the 1 buck limit and frankly I don't want them to. Most of the land here is either under lease or posted. Finding hunting ground is a chore. Add to that the number of hunters is decreasing compared to 15 years ago and the quality of bucks is getting better and better.
 
#37 ·
There is no doubt in my mind that hunting in many areas is getting tougher. You really have to be on top of your game to keep your productivity up as a hunter. This year twice I went out without seeing a single deer. My problem is the same as many others----- Trespassers. It took hours of covering ground and reading the sign to get back into the game with a solid pattern. I started by finding the other hunters travel areas which helped pinpoint what the deer were doing to avoid them. It paid off but not until the end of the season. It's tough to stay on top when deer are being pushed so hard with all of the intrusion not to mention most times they are in areas that you can be right on top of them with no available shot. The buck I got had gone unseen by me for two years, That just blows my mind that he could go so long undetected.
 
#39 ·
Mike and all you other hard-line trophy hunters (I mean that in a nice way), I hope you keep in mind that hunters need to grow into the trophy phase, and in order to do that, they have to kill deer (any/several legal deer) first. Not only to get that first one under their belt, but also to learn about hunting deer. It does take some time and some kills, and like many have pointed out, some places may just not have the deer population for them to evolve to that point. I'm not saying everyone gets to, or should get to that point, even those in prime deer country, but it does take successful hunting experience.
 
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